Fireball
by stella-pegasi
Summary: SGA-1 gates to what they think is a pristine planet with an ancient outpost but what they find is not what they expected…


**Title: ****Fireball**

**Author: **_stella_pegasi_

**Summary:** SGA-1 gates to what they think is a pristine planet with an ancient outpost but what they find is not what they expected…

**Rating: **K

**Genres: **Action, Hurt/Comfort

**Word Count: ~**900

**Spoilers: **None

**Warnings:** Whump is minimal…

**Characters:** John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own them; I would have treated them better.

**Author's Notes:** Written for the March Prompt for the sga_lfws community on LiveJournal. The prompt was: _Conflicts Challenge 1: Man vs. Nature;_ word count: 900; Team plus anyone else, but the whole team is a must.

_Please note: Edited from the version on LiveJounal-corrected a couple of grammar faux pas'…there are most likely more but they are all mine. _

**Fireball**

_by stella_pegasi_

SGA-1 emerged from the event horizon expecting an uninhabited, forested planet but the planet was nothing like they were anticipating. Instead of pristine forests and an ancient outpost near the gate as reported by the survey team, they found a desolate landscape that was anything but pristine.

An amber glow filled the sky; the sun appeared as a diminutive orange orb diffused by a heavy layer of dust and smoke. Breathing was difficult due to the acrid smoke-filled air wafting from the fires raging in the forest nearby. The ground trembled beneath them and in the distance they heard rumblings not unlike sonic booms.

"What has happened here?" Teyla asked as she stumbled over debris, broken rocks and tree limbs lying on the dais the gate stood on. Pieces of a graceful, carved stone archway, erected over the gate, lay scattered about.

Sheppard, coughing, answered tersely, "I don't know. McKay, check the DHD; see if we can dial Atlantis."

McKay rushed to the DHD and pulled the control panel off, "The crystals are intact, a couple knocked out of their slots. Give me a minute."

"Uh…Sheppard, we don't have a minute." Ronon snagged Sheppard's sleeve, pointing to the sky. From the northwest, a fireball was falling directly at them.

'Ronon, get McKay, go that way." Sheppard motioned to the west, which would hopefully take them away from the path of the fiery meteor. Sheppard grasped Teyla's arm, running away from the gate. Ronon grabbed McKay by his TAC vest, pushing the scientist ahead of him.

Glancing over his shoulder, Sheppard spotted the large rock, glowing red, about 1000 feet above the ground, moving rapidly. Adjusting direction, he yelled for Ronon to follow. Another quick glance back and he realized they were out of time. Pushing Teyla to the ground, he covered her with his body; Ronon and McKay dropped beside him just as the meteor impacted the ground about 300 yards away.

The ground shuddered violently and rock, splintered wood, and dirt came raining down on the team. The deluge lasted for several minutes and when it ended, they were shrouded by debris.

Ronon used his shoulder to shift a large branch that was lying across his back. Rodney moaned, unable to move, trapped by something across one leg. Ronon managed to free himself and realized that Rodney was pinned by a large rock lying on his right ankle.

"Stay put, McKay; gotta check on Sheppard and Teyla." Moving around Rodney, Ronon noticed a rock lying next to Sheppard's head, a rivulet of blood trailing down the colonel's neck from a head wound. He pulled rock and broken tree limbs away from Sheppard, then gently rolled him over so that Teyla could wiggle out from under his body. While she tended to Sheppard's wound, Ronon removed the rock from McKay's ankle.

Teyla gently shook Sheppard who stirred, struggling to sit up. Opening his eyes, the colonel asked "Uh...ev'yone…OK?"

"I believe so, colonel." She reached into a vest pocket and pulled out a bandage which she held to the back of Sheppard's head.

Ronon was pulling McKay to his feet, "McKay, careful; that ankle could be broken." McKay winced as he put weight on his ankle but he could stand.

They had scarcely become oriented when another loud explosion occurred near by; the ground shook again and they were buffeted by compression waves. Looking into the distance, Sheppard saw other meteors falling to the surface.

"Rodney, what's going on?"

"They're bolides, fireballs. Either there's a huge comet or asteroid field going by or a moon or something large has been impacted and broken up. We need to get out of here."

"No argument there; let's go."

They moved back toward the DHD, all of them concerned it had been damaged. Rodney was limping ahead, Ronon staying with him. Behind them, Teyla was helping a groggy Sheppard when they heard Rodney yell, 'oh, no.'

"McKay, what?" Sheppard asked as he and Teyla joined them, seeing that the DHD was covered with debris. Rodney was already under the pedestal checking on the crystals while Teyla and Ronon started pulling away the tree limbs, dirt and rocks lying on top of the device.

"McKay, answer me." From Sheppard's tone, that was an order.

"Thankfully, the crystals aren't damaged; I put them back in their slots." He stood up to dial Atlantis just as Ronon moved a large branch from the central key. Rodney moaned, "Damn it…the central key is cracked," pointing to a crack running down the center of the blue crystal.

"We've got one shot at this," he began dialing.

Sheppard glanced up at the sky, "Rodney, uh…hurry…we don't have any time left." Above them, at least seven fireballs were heading directly at them.

As Rodney pressed the blue hemisphere, no one took a breath until the gate engaged. McKay sent his IDC and they ran.

They burst through the event horizon as a fireball hit the ground in front of the gate, dirt and debris flying through the gate with them; a compression wave knocking the team and several Marines to the deck. McKay yelled for Chuck to raise the shield.

As the dust settled in the gate room, Sheppard sighed, "Guess Mother Nature was pissed."

Rodney chuckled as Sheppard pulled him off the floor, "No way to win against Mother Nature. Now, if she was an ascended woman, flyboy, you might have had a chance."

_Fin_


End file.
